Simplifying enterprise agreements

Tweaks to Fair Work legislation could make it easier to get enterprise agreement approvals and quicken up the award review process.

The Fair Work Amendment (Repeal of 4 Yearly Reviews and Other Measures) Bill 2017 would allow the Fair Work Commission to approve enterprise agreements and overlook minor errors which in the past have slowed down the approvals process.

It will also scrap the cumbersome four-yearly process for reviewing modern awards

A new provision in the Act states that an enterprise agreement can be considered agreed to despite some minor procedural or technical errors.

The Fair Work Commission will approve the agreement if the employees are not disadvantaged by the errors.

CCI’s Manager of Industrial Relations and Safety Policy Paul Moss says while these amendments don’t address the core issues associated with the complexity of the approval process, they do provide scope to argue that an agreement should be approved notwithstanding any relevant failing.

The removal of restrictions to the variations of awards outside of the four yearly review process was also a win for industry.

Moss says these changes are likely to result in fewer applications to vary awards, along with more considered arguments and considerations of applications which are made.

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